You wanna share a cab?

You wanna share a cab?

You know that all too familiar question , normally said amongst close friends during a night out or on that VERY RARE occasion when the NYC weather is acting crazy and the lack of yellows forces you to ride with a complete stranger.

Imagine my dismay this morning when I picked up the NY Times and read that the Taxi and Limousine Commission is trying a pilot program for cab sharing on certain routes in Manhattan. Under the guidelines of the program up to a max of four passengers will pay a flat fee per person and those passengers can be dropped off at any point along certain preset routes.

Now I am sure there are a host of economic & environmental reasons for this program and of course the most obvious being too many passengers and not enough taxis. But you know what, I do not want to share a cab with you. If I wanted to share a cab with you, I would just as soon meet you on the train or perhaps never meet you at all.

As a life long taxi user, I see the taxi as a safe haven. My own private little world that I pay a premium for , and for the time I am in that world, its mine. I dont have to make three pit stops to drop my three new friends off. And how about the time actually spent in the cab, apparently under the new program cell phone use would be prohibited. So that means I have to sit with 3 strangers and possibly engage in conversation. That is the whole reason I took the cab in the first place…To be alone and in peace.

I went to school in Washington DC and have been in other cities where sharing a cab is part of the drill, but that just simply can’t fly in NY. Now at first glance I could see it being an interesting place to pick up a potential love interest but as far as benefits go its stops there. If your looking to save cash, take the subway. Its clearly cheaper and at the end of the day almost always faster. And of course the beauty of the subway is that, you really dont have to talk or even look at anyone. That etiquette has been long standing and will most likely never change.

4 Responses to “You wanna share a cab?”

The beauty of it is that you actually have to go TO the Group Ride cab stand to CHOOSE to use it. If you prefer a private cab, then by all means, take one! he thing about these stands, though, is that they are in operation during the hours of peak demand, and therefore they may help people get a cab when it is traditionally much tougher to do so! Save money, save the environment, catch a cab when it’s harder to find one — what’s not to like!